Data Zone
Country/territory: Ireland
IBA criteria met: A4i, B1i, C2, C3 (2000)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 7,000 ha
Site description (baseline)
The site encompasses Mutton and Mattle Islands, lying approximately 3.5 km west of Quilty, County Clare. The site boundaries have been extended since the previous pan-European inventory (Grimmett and Jones 1989) to include the mainland coastline between Rinnamyrall Point (on the western edge of Doonbeg Bay) and Spanish Point to the north, as well as the sea area between the coast and the islands. Mattle Island, previously treated as a separate IBA (former site IE057), is now also included within this site. Mutton Island is a small, rocky, uninhabited island, covered by maritime grass and grazed by goats year-round; Mattle Island is also small and rocky, but is not grazed.
Key biodiversity
This site is important for wintering shorebirds and wildfowl. Also along the coast are nationally important numbers of wintering Charadrius hiaticula (180 birds, 1996), Calidris maritima (134 birds, 1995), C. alpina (2,200 birds, 1996) and C. alba (170 birds, 1996), as well as breeding Hydrobates pelagicus, Phalacrocorax carbo (60 pairs, 1987) and Larus marinus (50 pairs, 1987).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mid Clare Coast including Mutton and Mattle Islands. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/587 on 08/06/2023.
